by Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports

by Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports

The 12 active national title-winning coaches in men's college basketball have seen seismic changes in the game over the past few decades.

Against the background of the 75th NCAA tournament, USA TODAY Sports offers lengthy interviews with these dozen active title-winning coaches, all of whom still are head coaches at the Division I or II level. They provided a window into their ever-changing world, offering perspective on several big-picture issues that affect modern-day college basketball.

Thursday, March 21 Question:A No. 16 seed over a No. 1 seed or a double-digit seed winning the national title?

John Calipari: "Wow. Probably a double-digit winning the whole thing. The reason I say that is because you can have a veteran team as a double digit playing a freshmen team, like I had last year, and that could happen. The 1-16, if the ones are down, usually the 16s will be down, you know what I am saying."

Mike Krzyzewski: "Either one could happen. 16 beating 1 is not out of the question. It is so balanced. It is so balanced. The double-digit thing could happen because of upsets. Double-digit seed might never play a top-five seed. That could happen in a tournament. Crazy things like that. Crazy because they have not happened before, not so crazy with the chances of it happening because there is so much balanced now. There's not as big of separation. It is easier to lose now than ever before. Maybe that is why that is happening a little bit."

Roy Williams: "A 16 beating a 1. We're very close. I really do believe that. A double-digit seed making a run through the tournament is hard because you have to win six games. We have some 15 beating 2s, but not many of them. There is just one more step that is all you got to go to get to the other one."

Bill Self: "A 16 beating a 1. I do think we're getting closer. The whole thing is that is one game. A double-digit seeded team, it can happen, Kansas won it when they were a six, and VCU got to the Final Four. But there is a big difference between winning four games and six games."

Billy Donovan: "I think they both could happen. You look at the games and the parity, and what happens night in and night out. I think any of those things could happen. I don't think we're too far from any of those things happening at all. ... Because the national spotlight and America's eyes are on the NCAA tournament, losses like that (upsets) become more magnified. My question is which is a bigger upset: When a mid-major or non-BCS school and goes on the road in a building like Florida or Kansas and wins the game -- but it's never talked about because there's nothing on the line? That happens all the time. You can go down and even look at teams in our league that have had home games against teams that aren't even going to be remotely close to the NCAA tournament, and they're from some small mid-major conference, maybe they're picked to finish fifth, sixth in the league and they win the game. Why would anybody be surprised when that happens in March and it's a neutral site? It's not really even a neutral site because it's really a home game because everybody there is rooting for everybody is rooting for that team to win; they want to see those upsets. When that happens all the time, I think it's just what happens in November/December with non-conference schedules."

Boeheim: "I still don't think a 16 is going to beat a 1. I think there will always be 3-4 teams there that are going to struggle. Double-digit seed? I think that is possible. It will be hard for a double-digit seed to do it, but it is possible."

Smith: "I think you'll see a double-digit seed winning the national title. We almost did it twice. At Tulsa, we were a 12 seed and we lost to Arkansas and they went on to win the national title. If we could have gotten past that game, and we were in the game. There are a lot of teams knocking on that door. I think you'll see that before you see a 16 over a 1."

Pitino: "A double-digit winning the whole thing. If a 16 is ever going to beat a 1, it will be this year. But I do believe a double-digit could win the whole thing. I do think we're getting closer on the 16 seeds."

Fisher: "Either could happen, even though it only takes one, I think it would be harder for a 16 over 1, even know. Those 11 seeds are a whole lot closer to 1 seeds than they ever used to be."

Brown: "We were close to a double digit seed at Kansas and UCLA. AT UCLA got to the final game. I think a 16 beating a 1. But that would be like a 60-40 thing for me right now because one thing that I found that is really prevalent in my mind, VCU and Butler before. Butler and Gonzaga are different situations now. But George Mason, when you have kids who stay four or five years, by the times they are juniors or seniors they are so far ahead of these great freshmen. The Shane Battiers and the guys who stay four years get pushed back in the draft and the young kids based on their potential. The older guys who have four years respect coaching, respect the minutes they get and fundamentally they are so sound. And maturity wise they are dealing with guys that are close to their age. That is what we see happen in the NCAA. You can see an Ohio with kids four or five years or a Mason or VCU. Look at Kansas this year, if you look at their talent and what they had in the past, it's a lot different, but then you look at [Jeff] Withey four, [Elijah] Johnson, Young, [Travis] Releford five year guy. I think that's why we will see more mid-majors and programs that will shock our ass have long runs in the tournament."

Massimino: I don't think you will see a double-digit seed winning the national title. I think it will be a 16 over a 1. I think you are closer there. I think it would be very difficult for a double-digit seeded team to win the national title. Even though there is great parity, I don't see that. I'd like to see a team like Villanova 1985 win it. It would be a great story. But I don't care how much parity is there, it is going to be very difficult, the inner most emotions that take place for a 1,2 or 3 seed."